The author, Yu. A. Shkolenko, is a doctor of philosophy and a journalist. In his book he has com-bined reflections on the fundamental processes occurring in the space age with a lively description of the everyday, practical aspect of cosmonautics. He takes the reader into the cabin of a spaceship, into the living module of an orbital station, shows him the experiments performed by the cosmonauts, and then offers him a glimpse, through the porthole, of the earth and other nearby planets, and of worlds unimaginably remote. As a result, the reader who has never been in space and is unlikely ever to go there, has nonetheless the opportunity to acquire a cosmic view of the world and, rising above his âearth-boundâ daily life, can form a new concept of his place and role in the Universe and on earth and appreciate the need for lofty moral principles and humane forms of social existence.
